Steel Mill Overhead Cranes (Foundry & Ladle Cranes)

A Steel Mill Overhead Crane is a heavy-duty industrial crane designed for use in steel mills. It is capable of handling extremely heavy loads and is ideal for moving and positioning raw materials, finished products, and machinery within the steel mill facility.

These cranes typically have two parallel runways with a bridge that spans the gap between them. The bridge is mounted on wheels or a trolley, allowing it to travel along the runways. The hoist and trolley system of the crane can be customized to meet the specific needs of the steel mill, such as higher load capacity, higher lifting height, or faster movements.

Steel Mill Overhead Cranes are designed to withstand harsh operating conditions, such as high temperatures, dust, and debris. They are also equipped with safety features, including emergency stop buttons and overload protection, to ensure safe and efficient operation.

Overall, Steel Mill Overhead Cranes are an essential piece of equipment in any steel mill operation. They provide a reliable and efficient means of moving heavy loads and machinery within the facility, helping to increase productivity while also ensuring worker safety.

Capacity: 5–800/50 ton (Standard series: 100/32t, 160/50t, 250/63t, 320/80t)

Span length: 10.5–35 m (Drawing benchmark: 25 m)

Lifting height: 6–50 m (Drawing benchmark: 27 m)

Work duty: FEM 4m / ISO M7, M8 (Severe metallurgical continuous duty)

Rated voltage: 380V–690V, 50–60Hz, 3-Phase AC

Work environment temperature: -20°C～+60°C (Radiation temperature up to +70°C), relative humidity ≤85%

Crane control mode: Insulated Cabin room / Industrial Radio remote control

Pictures & Components

1. Whole set crane

A steel mill overhead crane is a type of industrial crane that is typically used in the steel industry. It is designed to lift and move heavy loads around a steel mill or factory. These cranes are often equipped with specialized features such as high heat tolerance and heavy-duty hoists to handle the extreme conditions of the steel production process. Steel mill overhead cranes are essential in the manufacturing process of steel products, making them an important piece of equipment for many steel mills and factories.

2. Main girder

A steel mill overhead crane main girder is the primary horizontal beam that supports an overhead crane in a steel mill. The main girder is typically made of high-strength steel (Q355B/Q355D) and is designed to support the weight of the hoist and any material being lifted. It is supported by a trolley, which runs along the length of the girder, allowing the crane to move horizontally. The bottom flange of the girder is lined with thermal radiation protective shielding to prevent radiant heat from molten steel from deforming the main structural box.

3. Lifting System

A steel mill overhead crane lifting system typically consists of a heavy-duty open winch trolley mounted on a rigid four-wheel or eight-wheel frame. Equipped with primary metallurgical grade dual motors (such as YZR355L2-10C), heavy hardened-gear reducers (QY3D560), and dual electro-hydraulic thruster brakes (YWZE series) acting directly on each input and drum shaft for dual redundancy protection. The lifting system guarantees that if one motor or brake fails, the secondary system safely holds or lowers the molten metal load.

4. End Carriages

End carriages are the components of a steel mill overhead crane that support and guide the crane's bridge along the runway beams. They are located at the outermost points of the overhead crane, connecting the main girders to the runway rails.

Built with heavy welded box sections, modular equalizing bogie beam assemblies (4-wheel or 8-wheel systems), and forged alloy steel wheels (65Mn / 42CrMo). They distribute huge wheel loads (up to 535 kN per wheel) evenly to protect building corbels and runway foundation rails (QU100 / QU120).

Equipped with heavy-duty polyurethane collision buffers, rail sweeps, and horizontal guide rollers to eliminate skewing and rail gnawing.

5. Crane traveling mechanism

The crane traveling mechanism refers to the system of components that enable the crane to move horizontally along the workshop. Driven by 4 synchronized heavy metallurgical motors (YZR200L-6, 4×22 kW) coupled with vertical hardened reducers (QY3D225) and YWZE hydraulic thruster brakes, achieving steady start-stop speeds of 76 m/min without jerking or molten metal sloshing.

6. Trolley traversing mechanism

The trolley traversing mechanism is responsible for moving the trolley across the crane bridge span.

Powered by dual motors (YZR160L-6, 2×11 kW) paired with independent gearboxes (QY3D225-50) and double brakes, providing a traversing speed of 38 m/min along heavy P38 or QU100 trolley rails.

Includes travel limit switches and mechanical stop blocks to ensure that the trolley operates strictly within designated safe operational boundaries.

7. Crane wheel

Crane wheels must endure extreme wheel loads and continuous thermal exposure.

Fabricated from vacuum-degassed forged alloy steel (65Mn or 42CrMo), with tread surfaces quenched to HB 330–380 and hardened depth exceeding 20 mm.

Fitted with spherical roller heavy bearings (SKF / FAG / HRB) within sealed lubrication housings to isolate abrasive metallurgical dust.

8. Crane hook & Ladle beam

Equipped with a high-capacity laminated plate hook (龙门钩 / Sheet-laminated hook) manufactured in compliance with DIN 15407 / JB/T 7688. The laminated plates are made of 16MVR high-toughness steel fastened with hot rivets. If one plate develops a microscopic flaw, the remaining plates sustain the molten steel without sudden brittle fracture. A motorized rotating hook beam or detachable heat shield is installed directly beneath the pulley block.

9. Motor

Utilizes heavy-duty wound-rotor metallurgy and hoisting motors (YZR series) with Class H insulation rating and IP54/IP55 protection. Rated for intermittent periodic duty (S3-60% / S3-40%) to handle frequent starting, electric braking, reversing, and continuous thermal radiation over the smelting bay.

10. Sound and light alarm system & limit switch

Features multi-level safety audible-visual flashing sirens (≥105 dB) integrated with rotating beacon lights. Redundant rotary cam limit switches and heavy weight-type limit switches (LX33-12 / LX10-12) monitor upper and lower hook positions, instantly shutting down hoisting power if normal limits are bypassed.

11. Safety Devices

Dual-redundant hoisting limiters (Spindle rotary limit switch + Heavy hammer limit switch).

High-precision digital overload protection with real-time cabin load display and 105% acoustic-optic cut-off.

Overspeed protection switches mounted directly on drum shafts.

Under-voltage, over-current, phase-loss, and zero-position interlock protection.

Radiation heat insulation board installed beneath the main girders and hook spreader.

Emergency stop pushbuttons stationed in cabin, on walkways, and at ground level.

12. Control Mode

Closed, insulated, air-conditioned cabin control with master joystick controllers (Linkage console) and high-strength tempered double glazing. Industrial wireless radio remote control is optionally supported for maintenance operations.

13. Sketch

(Dimensional Layout Reference based on Drawing YZ100/32t-25m)

Span (S): 25,000 ± 5 mm

Trolley Track Gauge (K): 9,500 mm

Wheel Base: 650 mm (bogie) / 9,500 ± 5 mm (center to center)

Hook Approach Limits: Left limit = 1,650 mm; Hook center spacing = 2,500 mm; Right limit = 2,600 mm

Total Crane Width: 15,200 mm

Height Above Rail: 4,500 mm; Headroom clearance: ≥400 mm

Main Technical Data (100/32t Engineering Benchmark)

Advantages

Maximum Safety for Molten Steel: Equipped with dual motors, dual gearboxes, and four independent brakes on the main hoist. If any single mechanical or electrical component fails, the secondary backup system prevents molten metal drops.

Thermal Radiation Shielding: Heavy-duty multi-layer ceramic/mineral thermal shields fitted below the bridge girders and ladle beam reflect over 85% of ambient radiant heat from steel ladles.

Severe Duty Longevity: Engineered to ISO M7/M8 design life, featuring hardened gear reducers, forged alloy steel wheels, and Class H insulated motors suitable for continuous 24/7 steel plant operations.

Smooth Stepless Positioning: Advanced variable frequency drive (VFD) controls minimize load swing and mechanical impact, ensuring precise alignment over converter mouths and continuous casting turrets.

Structural Rigidity & Anti-fatigue: Box girders welded with automated sub-arc machines and 100% radiographic/ultrasonic weld flaw testing, delivering long-term structural integrity without fatigue cracks.

Lower Operational Downtime: Modular component assembly allows quick replacement of motors, brake thrusters, and wheel sets, drastically reducing scheduled maintenance shutdowns.

Application

Charging liquid pig iron into basic oxygen furnaces (BOF) and electric arc furnaces (EAF).

Transporting teeming ladles from tapping bays to refining furnaces (LF/VD/VOD).

Transferring molten steel ladles to continuous billet/slab casting machine turrets.

Handling scrap charging buckets, hot ingots, and heavy metallurgical slag pots.

Ingot stripping, slab turning, and high-temperature steel plate handling.

Routine overhaul and lifting of heavy smelting machinery, ladles, and tundishes.

Emergency furnace dumping and molten metal containment transport.

Crane Production Procedure

Design and engineering: Structural finite element analysis (FEA), fatigue strength calculation, and thermal stress modeling customized to specific mill parameters and clearance standards (GB/T 3811, JB/T 7688.5, FEM).

Material procurement: Heavy plates of high-quality low-alloy structural steel (Q355B/Q355D) certified with mill test certificates (MTC) and ultrasonic lamellar tear testing.

Cutting and shaping: CNC multi-torch flame and plasma cutting machines execute precise web and flange profile shaping with automated groove edge beveling.

Welding: Main structural seams welded using submerged arc automatic welding (SAW) and flux-cored gas metal arc welding (FCAW). All primary tension butt welds undergo 100% radiographic (RT) and ultrasonic (UT) inspection.

Shot blasting & Thermal insulation assembly: Complete steel structures undergo full shot blasting to ISO Sa2.5 cleanliness, followed by the installation of structural bottom heat insulation panels.

Machining & Boring: Large floor-type milling and boring centers machine trolley frames, end carriages, and bearing bore housings in a single setup to ensure strict parallelism and perpendicularity.

Assembly & Pre-rigging: Mechanical integration of drums, motors, reducers, brakes, wire ropes, and cabin control consoles.

Electrical installation: High-temperature silicone cables, PLC electrical cabinets, air-conditioning units, and limit switches installed and loop-tested.

Factory testing & Final inspection: Full-stroke unladen operational testing, safety interlock verification, and factory inspection certificate issued per standard JB/T 7688.5 before protective export packing.

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